The image of Sulpicia and the polemic against Ovid in Martial (10.5 and 10.38)

Abstract

Sulpicia, the poetess of the Flavian period, appears in two epigrams of Martial’s book 10 (10.35 and 10.38). This article deals with the analysis of these two epigrams in the context of Martial’s work, particularly addressing the references to Egeria and Sappho. This will allow us to account for the polemic nature of these two epigrams against some Ovidian intertexts.